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julien

By Julien

Derbyshire, United Kingdom

Phoenix Canariensis, iI have just brought one of these from b+q reduced from £30 to 15, they always keep them outside, so i was wondering will this go through the winter or should i give it some protection, i want to plant it out in one of those old dolly tubs so it can sit next to my Bamboos, any other advice on this plant would be much appreciated




Answers

 

I can't see Bamboo and the Palm coexisting apart from in summer - as Bamboo prefers moist soil and the Palm needs to be kept dry in winter to protect it from frost. I have one that is in a pot in the most sheltered part of my garden, no wind and rain and little frost. The Canary Palm will tolerate damp soil in the summer but rest of year it will rot/get frost damage. If you plan to keep it outside then next to a south facing wall with full sun, protected from wind and sharp draining soil and it should do fine apart from the worst of winters You cut off the old prongs as they die and they form part of the trunk. They are pretty much easy apart from that.

What is a dolly tube?

7 Jan, 2012

 

They're only frost hardy and will need protection most winters - although, apparently, not this year because, contrary to all the predictions, so far it's barely been winter at all. If it gets really cold, move under shelter.
As for the dolly tub, I'm not sure what that is either - the only dolly I know about is one of those wooden tubs which would have had an accompanying wooden pole with a cross piece on the bottom for pounding the washing in when my nan was a girl... Will be better in a container anyway, and yes, you can stand it next to your bamboo if you want, assuming its a sheltered, sunny spot.

7 Jan, 2012

 

Thanks Kildermorie and bamboo for the advice, much appreciated, as for the Dolly tub i have a few of these they are in the shape of a barrel, concave in shape, metel with a groove shape going round the barrel, i have always been led to believe they are old dollytubs where the washing was done useing one of those wooden dollypegs, they are great features and look lovely painted up, you can often see these on allotments as water butts.

7 Jan, 2012

 

yep, that's exactly what I thought you must mean by dolly tub, Julien - I've not seen one since the fifties...

7 Jan, 2012

 

I just looked Dollytub in google - some of them are very pretty and the Palm will look good in one. Poorish soil is fine for them.

7 Jan, 2012

 

We use to have one though by the time I remember it they used a gas fired copper for doing the washing. (And how many of you can remember what that is??) When I was a child if there was a heatwave my Dad used to buy a huge cube of ice (don't know where from!) and put it in the dolly tub. Mum would put the milk and butter on the ice to keep it from going off. It used to last about three days before it all melted. Growing a palm in one would have caused quite a stir in those days! Won't you need a drainage hole?

7 Jan, 2012

 

It's only hardy down to 6.6º C, so most winters, in most of the UK, it will need serious protection. Hard to tell what it will do this winter, though!

7 Jan, 2012

How do I say thanks?

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